The Jeremiad Over Journalism

appropriation,‖ 127 but Sørensen and Petersen do not discuss whether it is European or American
influence mainly. 128 In this sense the book chapter can perhaps be seen as crediting the Europeans
with more agency in the process of Americanization than was actually the case.
Petersen and Sørensen, 2007
Together with Klaus Petersen, Nils Arne Sørensen in 2007 published the article ‖Kommunister,
Jan-bøger og drømmekøkkener [Communists, Jan-books and dream-kitchens].‖ In this article the
authors argue that much of what we know about the Cold War comes from people in a position of
power, and very seldom from ―ordinary people.‖ The two scholars therefore recommend that future
studies should focus on ―the Cold War‘s imprints in mass cultural media and genres.‖ 129
Petersen and Sørensen tie everyday life during the Cold War to the concept of Americanization, and
note that Europeans have previously talked about it as ―imitation‖ or ―affected by,‖ which in the
author‘s words is ―far from precise.‖ Petersen and Sørensen do not define the concept any further,
however, but go on to demonstrate the United States‘ role in a European context throughout the 20 th
century. In the authors‘ view, some of most effective ways of affecting the Europeans was through
propaganda, and the exchange programs tied to this information effort.
―For that purpose the plan‘s most important piece was probably the study tours, where Danish
businesspeople, union leaders, academics and journalists with their own eyes experienced the
United States, and where they, according to the plan, brought back inspiration to modernize
Danish society in the American image. (…) The Marshall Plan is usually thought to be one of
the most successful American initiatives in the Cold War. It is clear, that the program‘s
longsighted dimension – to ensure growth and prosperity in Western Europe – was based on
perceptions that must be characterized as distinctly percolation-theoretical, but just as clearly,
this percolation-process actually succeeded. Leading Danes‘ stay abroad did affect the Danes‘
everyday life at the workplace, in education and as consumers.‖ 130
127 Elteren, Americanism and Americanization: A Critical History of Domestic and Global Influence. Page 168. Elteren
notes that in the case of smaller countries like Denmark, the Netherlands and Belgium, ―American ideas, goods,
services and practices reached individual countries often through other ones.‖
128 Petersen and Sørensen, "Ameri-Danes and Pro-American Anti-Americans." Page 132-133.
129 ———, "Kommunister, Jan-Bøger Og Drømmekøkkener [Communists, Jan-Books and Dream Kitchens]." Page 33.
Sørensen and Petersen specifically suggest sportsjournalism, movies, popular literature, magazines and hobby journals.
130 Ibid. Page 40-41. My translation. Original text reads, ―Til det formål var planens vigtigste brikker sandsynligvis de
studierejser, hvor danske erhvervsfolk, fagforeningsledere, akademikere og journalister ved selvsyn oplevede USA, og
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